U.S. Sends Limited Team to Gold Cup

Published 1:14 pm, Monday, April 25, 2016

The United States will send a shell of its national team to the championship of soccer's North and Central American and Caribbean region, leaving out many probable World Cup starters who are with their European clubs.

Defender Frankie Hejduk and midfielder Eddie Lewis were the only European-based players in the 28-man pool for the CONCACAF Gold Cup announced Thursday by U.S. coach Bruce Arena.

Among the missing are top goalkeepers Brad Friedel and Kasey Keller; defenders David Regis and Steve Cherundolo; midfielders Claudio Reyna, Earnie Stewart and John O'Brien; and forwards Joe-Max Moore and Jovan Kirovski.

Forwards John Wolff and Brian McBride, and midfielder-forward Clint Mathis _ all coming off injuries _ were picked for the team. Wolff broke his left foot May 30, Mathis hasn't played since tearing a right knee ligament June 5, and McBride returned Dec. 9, after August surgery to remove a section of a rib that had put pressure on a vein, causing blood clots.

Hejduk, with Bayer Leverkusen in Germany, hasn't played for the United States since an exhibition against Brazil last March. Lewis, who plays for Fulham in England, hasn't appeared for the U.S. team in six months.

Also back is goalkeeper Tony Meola, the starter for the United States at the 1990 and 1994 World Cups. Zach Thornton, another goalkeeper, was among six players selected from the Chicago Fire, the most of any Major League Soccer club.

The team gathers Saturday for training camp in Claremont, Calif., and has first-round games in the Gold Cup against South Korea (Jan. 19) and Cuba (Jan. 21) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

In the World Cup, the Americans will be based in South Korea and play first-round games against Portugal (June 5 in Suwon), South Korea (June 10 in Daegu) and Poland (June 14 in Daejeon).